1. When the heaven is
cleft asunder,
2. And when the stars become dispersed,
3. And when the rivers are made to flow forth,
4. And when the graves are laid open --
5. Every soul will know what it has sent before and what
it has held back.
6. O man, what beguiles thee from thy Lord, the
Gracious?
7. Who created thee, then made thee complete, then made
thee in a right good state --
8. Into whatever form He pleases, He casts thee.
9. Nay, but you give the lie to the Judgement,
10. And surely there are keepers over you,
11. Honourable recorders,
12. They know what you do.
13. Surely, the righteous are in bliss,
14. And the wicked are truly in burning Fire --
15. They will enter it on the day of Judgement,
16. And will not be absent from it.
17. And what will make thee realise what the day of
Judgement is?
18. Again, what will make thee realise what the day of
Judgement is?
19. The day when no soul controls aught for another soul.
And the command on that day is Allah's.

This is an early Makkan chapter, and
like the preceding one, Al-Takwir (The Folding Up),
it proves, through prophecies, that man will have to account
for his deeds. There is one difference, though. In the
previous chapter (The Folding Up), the fulfilment of
the glorious prophecies mentioned there relate to the Last
Age, whilst the extraordinary signs contained in this
chapter (The Cleaving) were relevant to the life of
the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Their fulfilment was
clearly witnessed in his lifetime and their glory and
grandeur were also extended to the centuries that
immediately followed his advent. As mentioned several times
before, prophecies are couched in subtle, metaphorical
language and their true significance is disclosed only at
the time of their fulfilment.

1. When the heaven is
cleft asunder,

This verse carries a deep metaphorical
meaning. That is, the heavens will rain signs and divine
help as if they were created for that purpose and were only
awaiting the command of their Lord, and when the time was
ripe, so torrential would be this downpour of divine signs
and heavenly help as if a huge vessel were broken and had
scattered its contents far and wide.

2. And when the stars
become dispersed.

This, too, is another subtle metaphor.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is reported to have said:
"My Companions are like the stars." They were likened to
stars because they were filled with the heavenly light which
the Holy Prophet brought. The meaning is that when these
showers of divine assistance and heavenly signs fall upon
the earth and Islam becomes triumphant, then another sign
will come into effect and that is the heavenly stars, that
is, the Companions of the Holy Prophet, and other Muslims
who will be filled with this same light, will travel all
over the earth to disperse this divine light, that is, to
propagate the religion of Islam world-wide.

3. And when the rivers are
made to flow forth.

Rivers in figurative language refer to
knowledge. That is, rivers of knowledge will flow in
abundance all over the world. This third sign tells us that
as the Companions traverse the earth and spread the religion
they will also initiate a flood of knowledge and wisdom in
every sphere of human endeavour. In addition, the Arab
nation will be the blessed community that will teach the
world knowledge and science and will inspire and lay the
foundation of a new civilisation and culture.

4. And when the graves are
laid open.

That is, the dead will come alive. In
other words, those people who were suffering a death of
illiteracy, barbarism and misguidance, and were buried in
the grave of ignorance and paganism, would receive a life
(of faith and knowledge). And wherever the message of Islam
will reach, one will find there a resuscitating breath of
life breathed into erstwhile savages.

Bear in mind that these four hidden
signs mentioned here were prophesied at a time when Islam
was in its infancy and was undergoing a period of extreme
destitution and helplessness. How vividly they unfolded in
just a few years and how rapidly Islam occupied the world
stage have been written large in golden letters on the pages
of world history.

5. Every soul will know
what it has sent before and what it has held
back.

After describing the four signs above,
Allah, Most High, then says that if those signs turn out to
be true, then, consequently, it is also true that every man
will be shown the results of his actions, whether he sees
them in the future life or, whether as a doer of good deeds,
he has left behind him a mark of his benevolence. And it is
beyond dispute that these four prophecies mentioned above
indeed constitute the beautiful legacy that the Islamic
community bequeathed to the world.

It has already been mentioned in
chapter 78 (Al-Naba -- The Announcement), that the
age of every prophet or messenger provides us, in a small
measure, with a picture of the day of Resurrection so that
people may witness with their own eyes the results of their
actions in this life, and that this may further strengthen
their faith in the Great Resurrection when man will witness
the full manifestation of the consequences of his
deeds.

This is why Allah has used in the Holy
Quran the word As-Sa'ah (The Hour), which is another
name for the day of Resurrection, to depict the success of
the virtuous and the destruction and failure of the wicked
in the very lifetime of the Messenger. Allah's purpose in
affording man this preview is really for it to serve as an
incontestable proof of the Great Resurrection. In other
words, when, in accordance with Allah's design, the results
of deeds are disclosed in this very life and everyone, good
or bad, receives his just recompense -- a fact which
was foretold before the event -- then, if it is also
revealed beforehand that in the next life, good and evil
will each acquire its corresponding reward in the fullest
measure, than what alternative is there but to accept the
truth of Allah's promise?

Indeed, we have witnessed the true
fulfilment of these matters in this life and we have seen
with our own eyes the repercussions of both good and evil.
Thus, according to Allah's plans, whatever goodness the
group of Holy Companions worked, and whatever footprints
they left behind, serve to prove that they were a community
with exalted morals and great beneficence, and in the next
world their deeds will bear immeasurable fruit. Forcefully
indicated also is the fact that man's every deed contains
its own consequence whether it becomes visible in this world
or in the next.

Thus, man ought to be very circumspect
concerning his actions and should conduct himself in such a
way that not only does he send forth good for the next world
but also leaves behind a legacy of goodness in his
wake.

6. O man, what beguiles
thee from thy Lord, the Gracious?
7. Who created thee, then made thee complete, then made
thee in a right good state.

This means that man is born in this
world and quickly forgets the purpose of his creation and
his attention is riveted solely on satisfying his animal
desires, like eating, drinking and other sensual passions.
He drifts away from his Lord Who brought him into being in
order to shower His Rabubiyyat (Providence) on him,
that is, to lead him to acquire, step by step, all-round
progress and perfection, and Who, in His infinite
generosity, bestowed on him such resources and talents as to
make him attain the highest excellence and so become an
honoured servant of his generous and noble Lord.

This is the same Lord Who created him
and fashioned him in the best make. That is, whatever
faculties were bestowed on him were the most appropriate,
the most suitable and the most perfect so that he could
attain to the fullest degree the purpose of his creation.
Further, He fashioned him in the right measure. In other
words, man's advancement is dependent on moderation and
balance which are free from extremes and which his Creator
has embedded in his very nature (fitrah).

Thus, if man focuses his attention on
his noble and magnanimous Lord, that is, if he always keeps
in mind the fact that his Lord has created him to acquire
excellence and perfection, and if he ponders over his
creation and realises the extent of the sublime qualities
with which he has been blessed and he should then follow the
path of moderation, then there is no limit to the
excellences and degrees of perfection he can acquire. Yet,
unfortunately, he does not suppress his sensual desires and
animal passions in favour of his spiritual perfection and
progress in the next life. Further, he must never ever turn
away from obedience to his Lord, for herein lies the secret
of his nobility.

8. Into whatever form He
pleases, He casts thee.

That is, the diversity in form and
appearance is, in Allah's wisdom, a wonderful and
extraordinary matter. This is so to enable human beings to
recognise one another and to develop their unique
personalities. Regardless of the shape in which Allah, Most
High, has cast each person, the same path to spiritual
perfection is equally available to everyone, whether black
or white, or handsome or not. Further, no one can prevent
another from travelling on this path of spiritual
perfection, which is the purpose of life on
earth.

9. Nay, but you give the
lie to the Judgement.

In other words, nothing has really
deceived man from the straight path. Indeed, the true cause
of his deviation is that he feels no fear for the
responsibility and consequences of his deeds. If he were
sure that a day would surely come when he would be requited
for his deeds, then he would never be disobedient to his
gracious Lord. The result of his refusal to believe in the
certainty of retribution on a day of punishment has led him
to the pit of heedlessness and disobedience. And this is, in
truth, a denial by way of deeds of the day of Judgement.
However, man should always remember that his actions will
not be lost, for every deed is well-guarded in a safe
record.

10. And surely there are
keepers over you,
11. Honourable recorders,
12. They know what you do.

In other words, Allah has appointed
such keepers who record the deeds of man and they never
allow any action to be lost. Instead, they keep on recording
every single thing. Those keepers are noble and venerable
angels who are quite unlike some wicked officers of this
world's secret police who write down whatever evidence they
feel to. On the contrary, whatever those pure recorders
write is completely genuine and trustworthy. Today, in this
scientific age, the latest researches have disclosed that no
word or action of man is ever lost. Instead, everything is
being continuously recorded in the sound waves of the ether.
If we can devise a means by which we can read these records,
then we will be able to read the complete history of the
world, and whatever habitation we choose to examine, we will
be able to tell what work was done there and what words were
spoken there.

Uspan, an English Muslim convert and
former editor of the Outlook and the Light
(two magazines), has made an incisive remark on this matter,
boldly declaring that the day the records conserved in the
book of nature are decoded the result would be the immediate
collapse of Christianity, for the false stories relating to
the Godhead of the Messiah, Prophet Jesus, and his being
taken up alive to heaven will be exposed and consequently
the doctrines of the Trinity and the Atonement will vanish
from the face of the earth.

In short, scientists are engaged in
the task of discovering means by which we can read the
record of nature and they may or they may not succeed. In
any case, that record is in the possession of Allah
-- a record from which no word or deed of ours will
be concealed or omitted. Thus, the result of this will be as
follows:

13. Surely, the righteous
are in bliss,
14. And the wicked are truly in burning Fire --
15. They will enter it on the day of Judgement,
16. And will not be absent from it.

That is, the hell which they are
making with their own hands through their evil deeds is ever
present with them in this life, but they are blind to it.
However, after death, on the day of Requital, they will
perceive it with certainty of sight, and that is the Fire
that they will enter.

17. And what will make
thee realise what the day of Judgement is?
18. Again, what will make thee realise what the day of
Judgement is?

The repetition of this question is a
form of linguistic style, the purpose being to make clear
the importance of the subject matter and also to highlight
the horror and the grandeur of that day of
Judgement.

19. The day when no soul
controls aught for another soul. And the command on that
day is Allah's.

Power and command are always in the
hands of Allah, but here the objective is to draw attention
to the fact that, in this life, Allah has given man the gift
of choice: to do good or not to, or to help one another in
some way or the other, or to confer benefit on others or to
defend them. However, on the day when the results of deeds
are disclosed, no one will have the option to bear the
consequences of his deeds patiently or not, neither will
anyone be able to save another from punishment, nor be of
help to another in any way. This is why the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) warned his daughter, Lady Fatimah (rta), in
the following words:

"Dear daughter, on the day of
Resurrection, it will avail you naught that I am your
father. It is only your deeds that will be of use to
you."